Rick Hill is the Valero Alamo Bowl’s VP of Marketing and Communications. Prior to the bowl, Rick spent 6 years working for the Spurs, one season with Missions Baseball and two fruitless months trying to sell season tickets for the S.A. Riders.

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Where Are They Now?

Most times we end our Valero Alamo Bowl internship interviews by asking the candidates if they have any questions. The top four responses are:

1) “Nope.”

2) “Can you describe a typical day?”

3) “What’s your timetable for making a decision?”

4) “Where are your former interns working now?”

The first two responses don’t help the candidate’s chances as you should always have a question or two ready to show your interest in the position. Plus, I’m not sure any sports jobs have a “typical day” so it’s probably better to ask a more insightful question.

Conversely, inquiring about an employer’s timetable makes sense because companies are all over the board. We try to complete the process from first interview to final offers in three weeks, but I’ve seen some postings where they publicize a three month review.

The most logical question I’d want answered is “Will this internship prepare me for my career in sports?” Thus, the “where are they now” question is a good way to start that conversation.

For us, our standard line is that full time jobs in sports are not plentiful but if you excel in this internship and are willing to start at the bottom, live anywhere and find someone to endorse your application then you should receive serious consideration for most entry level positions.

And in a tough economy, we’re happy to report that all three of last year’s interns are currently employed. One has a part-time job in sports as he looks for something more permanent. Another one opted to take a customer service position with a leading technology company he feels has tremendous growth potential. Our final intern who we’ll call Kate to give her some anonymity (and because it’s easier for me to spell than her real name Kaitlin) embraced our go anywhere, do anything mantra.

Because her job hunt best details how taxing it can be to find a sports job, I’ll recap her search. Her first legitimate shot for a full-time position was for a marketing coordinator position with the New Orleans Hornets. Since three of the bowl’s six employees worked previously at the Spurs and two of us had worked with a former Spurs employee now at New Orleans, we were able to pass along our recommendation.

Kate made it to the final three before she withdrew her name from consideration when they told her if hired she had to start in mid-December. She wanted to honor her commitment to the bowl which made us want to help her all that much more when her next opportunity arose.

That opportunity came in January for an event coordinator position with an NFL team who needed help with their ancillary events (i.e. neutral site college games, soccer matches, luncheons). Several of our staffers knew people in the hiring process so she received immediate consideration based on our recommendations, her experience and her ability to interview well.

After several in-person meetings, they were ready to hire her but company policy forced them to open the position up to internal candidates. After their timeline to make a decision slowed to a crawl, Kate started making daily trips to the prayer chapel at the church by her apartment, losing sleep and asking every hour if she should follow-up with them or wait for a callback.

Despite feeling the job was hers in the first three interview (one in-person and two calls), they finally asked her to come to their office for a fourth and final interview. The next week they let her know they went with the internal candidate.

Kate extended her internship into February and between bowl assignments would walk around with her resume, job descriptions of where she had applied and cell phone in case a prospective employer called. By mid-February, she made headway on three more job openings: a corporate partnership liaison with an MLS team, a partnership services coordinator with an ACC university and a premium account executive with an NBA team.

She received endorsements for the first two positions from IMG College representatives she met while working on a NCAA Youth Clinic and the Texas Football Classic. And perhaps more importantly, she kept in touch with them during the season and even caught up with them for a drink when they were in town for the NCAA Convention in early January.

Ironically, one of the IMG employees had applied for the same MLS job last year before accepting the IMG position and recommended her for that one and the IMG College position at the ACC school. I was also able to help as a former bowl PR director I worked with knew the hiring manager for the ACC position.

Bowl staffers also endorsed Kate for the NBA job and we all hoped one of three jobs would pan out. That didn’t happen. Instead, after driving to interviews in Dallas and Houston twice and flying to Florida all in the same week she received offers from all three.

Over the weekend, she decided college was the best place for her to start her sports career. When she accepted the job all she could say was, “It’s nuts. I have a job with a salary and a benefits package. Never had those. After a million cover letters I can’t believe I have a job.”

I first told her I was jealous she got three offers in a week and I’ve only gotten two in the last 15 years. Then I made sure she knew she deserved it. She worked hard while she was in school to get as much experience as possible, she excelled at the bowl internship, she put together an unbelievable resume and portfolio, she practiced her interview skills and most importantly she knew the value of networking.

Networking has definitely played a role in this year’s intern search. We started at 160 applicants and eventually whittled it down to nine finalists, six of whom had someone we know recommend them. I’m sure our new batch of interns will work as hard as past years and we want to help them go where they want to go after their internships.

I just hope they still take my call when they make it big. And for those still looking, I’d suggest they read the William Shakespeare quote Kate had taped to her desk: “Our doubts are traitors. And make us lose the good we oft might win. By fearing to attempt.”